by Lyn, K.
“Where are we going?”
She led him to the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“If you have to ask, then I’m obviously not doing it very well.”
She began to slowly shed her clothes, piece by piece, smoothing her hands along her body, teasing her husband into wanting her so badly that he pulled her down, holding her with one hand while he maneuvered his way out of his tightening pants with the other.
Krissy giggled at his teenage-like awkwardness. “Mmm, looks like you have plenty for Krissy.”
The change in Krissy’s personality made the doctor want her even more and he pulled the pert breasts one by one into his mouth, pulling on them, biting the nipples, spurred on by Krissy’s loud gasps and erotic comments.
“Fuck me, baby. Make your wife a happy and satisfied woman.”
He plunged into her, nearly coming as he entered. Krissy pulled at him, clawing at his skin, and never seeming to be filled with enough.
“Deeper, honey, harder! Give you wife what she wants…like you used to do.”
Leon was pounding as hard as he could, delving deeply into her until he made a sound like a wild beast as his climax claimed him.
“Oh fuck, Krissy!”
“Mmm, tell me about it.”
She stretched out her arms and laid them flat upon the bed. Leon started to leave but she wrapped her legs around him and squeezed hard as his cock began to soften.
“More,” she moaned and closed her eyes. “It’s just like before, isn’t it?”
Leon began to panic at the thought of Krissy remembering, with her comment about how it used to be, but he knew he was just being paranoid. She was probably trying to find something that would jog her memory of her past life. He kissed her and she pulled his tongue into her mouth.
“Krissy, what has happened?”
His words were garbled with his tongue in her mouth, but she understood them. “It got soft. That’s what happened.”
He pulled away with questioning eyes. “What?”
“It got soft. Make it hard again.”
Krissy’s eyes were catlike and the doctor tried to will an erection but he was clearly spent.
“I don’t think I can for a while,” he said in a teasing manner.
Krissy snarled and pushed him off of her with the words, “Too bad.”
Dumbfounded, Leon watched as his wife avoided his stare as she walked out of the room. He lay there and listened to the sounds of pans banging in the kitchen and cupboards being pulled open and slammed shut. He grabbed his clothes and stood just out of Krissy’s sight, watching as she put various ingredients together in a large bowl. What have I done? Knowing how well the medication worked when it was at a very cool temperature, he wondered if he should administer a second dose. Maybe it would override the previous one which may have been too warm. But what if a second dose so soon after the first one killed her?
Leon snuck past the kitchen where Krissy was lost in her own little culinary world and opened the door to the basement. Quickly and quietly he hurried down the stairs and pulled a chilled vial from the back of the refrigerator. When he returned he found Krissy pouring whatever she had mixed together into cupcake cups.
“What are you making, dear?”
When no response was given, Leon wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife and kissed her cheek.
“Is it ready yet?”
What was she talking about now? “Is what ready, honey?”
“Your soft little dick, that’s what. Now get away from me. You know when to come back.”
Leon wanted to hate her but he knew he was responsible for her mood, and he jabbed the needle quickly into her arm.
“Stop it!”
After she elbowed him in the gut, she went limp in his arms. He carried her to the bed, covered her, and watched as she slept once again. This time he sat in the chair beside the bed while she slept. He documented everything from length of rapid eye movements to the slightest twitches of any part of her body. She appeared to be sleeping soundly and Leon felt his head bobbing as he tried to stay awake. Watching her sleep was finally too much for him and he pulled a pillow from the bed and curled up in the big chair.
He was soon snoring softly and didn’t hear Krissy get out of bed. She looked over at him and smiled a somewhat devious and knowing smile, thinking how easy it would be to slash his throat. Who was he anyway…her kidnapper, her lover…because she knew she was not married to him. She grabbed her clothes, struggling to put them on as she stumbled out the door. Looking back, she saw little movement in Leon, so she kept on going. He had hinted about his laboratory somewhere in the house and the only part of the secluded country abode she had not yet seen was the basement, and she was determined to know what was going on.
She closed the door behind her and switched on the tiny bulb that lighted her path downward. The basement was cold with little more than a refrigerator in the corner and a computer on a small table, but Krissy knew that the answers to her questions about her strange acting supposed husband and captor were to be found here in the darkness. The man who claimed to be smarter than most had not logged off and the computer screen was quickly highlighted with complex formulas, both chemical as well as mathematical, and Krissy grumbled to herself. “I don’t know this shit!” She tried to make sense of just a small part of it, but she had not seen one day of a chemistry class and math was clearly not her forte. She hit the ‘page down’ button on the keyboard until she came to some writing. She may not understand numbers, but words she understood.
The formula had been perfected in the United States before Leon brought its final form here to China. The government was expecting it upon his return and if he failed to deliver, then what? Krissy had little information about foreign governments but the things that had been written and spoken regarding the Chinese officials were less than complimentary. “They tainted our cat food, for God’s sake.” There was no telling what fate awaited Leon. But what kind of chemical concoction had he brought them? What purpose did his secret formula serve? She read on but the sentences seemed clipped, unfinished, like a puzzle, and she tried her best to put them together. Memory…loss… sustained... continuum. Did he really think he could suppress someone’s memory forever? Why would he want to? What was all of this for? For spies, of course. Oh, that was stupid! Or was it? If the U.S. had spies, surely other countries did, too. Krissy was no scholar of politics, but she was determined to do her best to figure out the game plan here. It was obviously a very secretive one.
At the very bottom of the document was a formula for extending the mixture. Project ‘Water Down’ it had been labeled. How little substance is needed to continue test subject in memory loss and for how long. Note any side effects such as change in mood, etc. Krissy continued to scroll down through the pages and at the very bottom she found notes about herself.
‘Test subject had personality changes when dose not cooled sufficiently. Trying varying doses for optimum effect at minimum dose.’
“Test subject! I’m a test subject?” Hmm, Krissy was going to have a little fun with her loving husband. Staring down at the golden wedding band, she tried to remember more of her past. If only she could remember. That would help a lot. Clearly, the derived medication had worked at least to some extent.
When she closed her eyes she could see a woman in a hospital bed with Leon watching over her.
“Was it me? I really did have an accident.” But the unusual brain injury…was that just an excuse to use her as his subject? Was he that desperate? Why was he trying to please this government so badly? He’s a U.S. citizen, isn’t he?
Leon was in some kind of trouble. That was it. He had to prove himself in some way, but why? Krissy had to get away from here to avoid more medication. No, that was too easy. She would pretend not to remember even as Leon continued to decrease the dosage. Then when he went to the government to present his great invention with its miraculous fi
ndings as well as his human test subject, she would rat him out. That was a much better plan.
She left the computer exactly the way she had found it and started up the stairs, but then she looked back at the refrigerator. Wanting to pour its contents down the drain, she opened the door and pulled out one of the vials and purposely set it down beside the computer. Leon will think he left it here. It’s time to let him know how it feels to remember nothing. It’s time to give the doctor a taste of his own medicine. She walked with light steps up the stairs and made her way quietly back to the bedroom.
Leon sat up startled. “I fell asleep.”
“Guess so. I just got up a little while ago. How about a trip, honey? Let’s go back to Shanghai and see the sights. This is my first trip abroad and I want to go everywhere and see everything.”
Krissy watched as Leon’s demeanor did an about-face change. “No. We cannot go into the city yet.” He walked toward her and she nearly cowered but not quite, though her knees felt a bit weak. Very gently he put his arms around her. “I don’t think you’re ready yet, dear. I’m thrilled to death that you’re feeling better, but it would be best to wait. Let’s not rush things. Besides, the air is so much fresher out here in the country.”
Krissy felt her heart melting in the warm embrace of Leon’s arms. But she would not fall for this man, her kidnapper, her betrayer, and she would not be the subject of his deranged tests. It was because of him that she thought she was having a heart attack when the medication had begun to wear off. Shit, am I addicted to the stuff?
“What kind of medication are you giving me?”
“Oh, um, it’s an anti-seizure medication. Head injuries are notorious for causing seizures. The medication quiets the brain.”
All this medication stuff made little sense to Krissy who knew very little on the subject. “Oh,” she said quietly. “I have to go somewhere, anywhere. I feel all cooped up in the house.”
“How about a drive, honey? We can go up into the mountains.”
So you can kill me? Krissy was more than a little afraid of this man who claimed to be her husband. He could kill her and dispose of her body quickly and easily and no one would even hear her scream.
“Okay, but wouldn’t you like to go into the city instead? This is the first time I have been anywhere outside of the United States.”
Thinking on his feet was nothing new to Dr. Chen. It had gotten him this far and it had not failed him yet. “We can do both.”
Krissy smiled, though she was more confused than before. If I only knew what was going on inside that man’s head. He acts like he really cares about me. Maybe he missed his calling. He should have gone into acting.
Krissy began to pack and Leon walked away. Guilt would not overtake him now. He would not let it. He would not let this beautiful woman get to him.
When Krissy bent over to pick up her suitcase, her head began to throb. With dizziness quickly following, she forced her body to the bed, grabbing onto the spread and pulling herself upward.
“Leon!”
Over the throbbing in her head she couldn’t hear her own voice. She felt as if she were dreaming when she noticed the doctor watching over her. She was in the emergency room and she felt sore from the accident. It was Leon and he seemed so caring and loving. He kissed her hand and the band of gold that circled her finger, but there was something disturbing about the loving scene. Krissy noticed the look of concern in the nurse’s eyes and she also noticed Leon quickly dismissing the nurse from the room. Why did he do that? Did the nurse know the truth? Krissy’s dream world went blank and she felt her body being shaken.
“Krissy, wake up!”
The look of concern she remembered from her dream was on the face of the man leaning over her with a syringe in his hand.
“Honey, I’m so sorry. I must not have been watching the time. I found one of the syringes beside the computer. It’s not like me to be so careless.”
Krissy wanted to shout at him that he got what he deserved and that she had left it out on purpose and that she knew about the basement, his notes, his experiment, and more. But she wanted to remember a little more first, so she tried to stop him from giving her more medication.
“No, Leon, I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”
The needle was in her arm before she could stop it and her eyelids fluttered before sleep overcame her. While Krissy slept, Leon returned to the basement and to his computer. It appeared to have been untouched, the screen coming alive with his most recent notes. But he could not believe his carelessness. He didn’t want Krissy to die. He needed her now in more ways than she could ever understand. He packed quickly and loaded the car. His laptop was updated from the main computer and then he went back to the bedroom to get Krissy.
Helping her to the car was not easy in her sleep-induced state, but it was easier than waiting until she awoke again before leaving. This way she had no choice. She would wake up in a grand hotel in Shanghai with nothing to worry about.
Leon decided to forget the mountain getaway and take Krissy into the city as she had begged him to do. As he drove, he glanced nervously from Krissy to the city looming ahead and back to Krissy. Was now the time to prove his case? Maybe I should confess to Krissy what I’ve done and why I had no other choice but to do it. I should have told her long ago. Using her this way was wrong but it was the only way. He would do anything for his father. It was his duty to clear his name.
The first doctor in the family, the senior Dr. Chen had been groomed to be a physician from his first day of life. Sent to the States to study in one of the finest medical schools, the man had excelled in his studies and was awarded a research grant to the facility of his choosing.
Leon gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as he thought about what happened next. Leon’s father had taken a walk on the beach one sunny afternoon after nearly completing his fellowship and met the woman who would change his life forever. She was beautiful, kind, and embodied what at the time was considered the all American woman. Of European descent, the blue eyed blonde had grabbed onto the doctor’s heart and never let go. She was everything he had ever wanted, and after a brief courtship the two of them were married. A year after that Leon was born. The three of them lived in a beautiful home, the doctor had accepted a prestigious offer as director of medicine at one of the city’s hospitals, and all was picture perfect.
The Chinese government had been furious, knowing that one of its best had been lost to one of its most despised enemies. The doctor’s marriage had not only given him a son. It had given him U.S. citizenship as well, and when his fellowship was over he had refused to return to China. The disgrace his family had felt was immeasurable and they were forced to flee to Hong Kong or spend a lifetime in prison. Leon had tried to locate them but had learned they relocated to Canada a few years prior to the Hong Kong Handover in 1997 when control was relinquished by Great Britain and returned to the Chinese government. Leon had begged his father to take him to visit his grandparents, but the older gentleman had hung his head. He was too ashamed.
Leon slowed and stopped the car along the side of the road. He leaned his head back and turned toward the sleeping woman beside him. She was beautiful, like his mother. She was sweet, like his mother. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
“What the fuck am I doing?”
Krissy’s eyes opened and she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Her hand was on the door handle when Leon stopped her.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
“Krissy, wait. Listen to me, please!”
Through her blurry eyes, she saw the doctor’s face innocent and caring, as it appeared in his photograph. There was sincerity in his pleading, or was it the drugs flowing in her system that were confusing her?
“What’s wrong? Why are we stopped out here with no one around?”
She struggled to sit up but slumped back down. Leon wrapped his arms around her and held her in his arms. She felt like dead we
ight in his arms, but he was determined to admit the truth to this woman who had stolen his heart.
“Krissy, all these years…” He stopped to clear the catch in his throat, but Krissy had fallen back asleep. “Krissy, listen to me!”
“Uh, okay.”
He laid her gently against the back of the seat and held her face in his hands. “Krissy, stay with me, baby.”
The smile was forced but Krissy was doing her best. “Are we at the hotel?”
“Not yet.”
“Krissy, all this time I was living for someone else. I was living for my father.”
“What are you talking about?”
Leon knew that it was not safe to remain on the side of the road, so he drove on into the city and to one of the finest hotels he could find. Krissy deserved at least that much.
Krissy was beginning to come around and the lights of the city were a welcome sight to her. “Are we going home now? Are we at the airport?”
“No, but soon we will be back in the States.”
He checked them in and wasted no time getting Krissy out of the lobby and away from suspicious eyes. The woman with the golden blonde hair and the bright blue eyes stood out in a crowd here and to the untrained eye she appeared drunk. Someone could easily mistake her for a hooker who had come to prey on unsuspecting businessmen and in the process was taking ‘business’ away from their own women of the night. Krissy was in the country illegally and Leon knew he needed to get her out as soon as possible. Krissy stumbled through the door of the room and went straight to the ice bucket that held a golden bottle of sparkling champagne.
“Ooh, fancy!” She popped the cork and poured two glasses and downed a few strawberries. “Try some.”
Leon took a sip and then he took the glass from Krissy’s hand.
“Hey!”
“Krissy, it’s not good to drink with the medication you are taking.”
“About that…what did you want to talk about? You said something about your father.”
He took her hand and began to lead her to the sofa, but she pulled away. “I think I’ll stand.” Crossing her arms in defiance, she waited to hear the truth from this man, whoever he was.